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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 STORMANS INCORPORATED, et al., 9 Plaintiffs, 10 v. 11 12 13 Defendants, 14 and 15 16 17 18 JUDITH BILLINGS, et al., Intervenors. MARY SELECKY, Secretary of the Washington State Department of Health, et al.,

HONORABLE RONALD B. LEIGHTON

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT TACOMA CASE NO. C07-5374 RBL OPINION

I. SUMMARY 19 This case presents a novel question: can the State compel licensed pharmacies and 20 pharmacists to dispense lawfully prescribed emergency contraceptives over their sincere 21 religious belief that doing so terminates a human life? In 2007, under pressure from the 22 Governor, Planned Parenthood, and the Northwest Womens Law Center, the Washington State 23 Board of Pharmacy enacted regulations designed to do just that. 24

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The rule primarily1 at issue, commonly known as the delivery rule, requires pharmacies

2 to timely deliver all lawfully prescribed medications, including the emergency contraceptives 3 Plan B and ella.2 Under the delivery rule, a pharmacys refusal to deliver is grounds for 4 discipline, up to and including revocation of its license. In operation, the delivery rule bars a 5 pharmacy from referring patients seeking Plan B to other pharmacies, meaning they must 6 dispense the drugs. 7 In violation of the regulations, but in conformity with their religious beliefs, the Plaintiffs

8 refused to dispense Plan B to Planned Parenthood test shoppers and others. The Board launched 9 a series of investigations, and this suit was the result. Based on the evidence presented at trial, 10 the Boards regulations, while facially acceptable, are in practice unconstitutional. 11 12 A. The Parties. 13 Plaintiffs are two individual pharmacists and a corporate pharmacy.4 Each holds the II. BACKGROUND3

14 sincere religious belief that life begins at conception, when an egg from the female is fertilized 15 by the sperm from the male. Taken after unprotected sex, emergency contraceptives Plan B and 16 17
1

The other new rule (the pharmacist responsibility rule), and the pre-existing stocking rule, are also at issue in this case. They are discussed below. 18 Plaintiffs amended their Complaint to add allegations regarding ella when it became widely available in 2010. [Dkt. #s 470 & 474]. For ease of reference, the two are referred to as 20 Plan B in this Opinion. 19 A detailed history of the Rules promulgation and enforcement is set forth in the Courts Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, filed herewith. Only those facts essential to the 22 Courts opinion are reiterated here. 21 23 24 Plaintiffs are Margo Thelen, Rhonda Mesler, and Stormans, Inc. Stormans owns and operates two grocery stores, one of which contains a retail pharmacy.
4 3 2

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1 ella delay ovulation,5 and can also prevent a fertilized egg from adhering to the wall of the uterus 2 (implanting). Plan B is most effective if taken within three days, while ella is effective for five. 3 Because of their religious beliefs, Plaintiffs refuse to dispense Plan B. 4 The State Defendants are individuals sued in their official capacities, charged with the

5 promulgation, interpretation and enforcement of Board of Pharmacy regulations, including the 6 2007 Rules. The Defendant-Intervenors are various individuals personally concerned about 7 access to lawful medications in Washington. Two are HIV-positive individuals concerned that 8 the success of Plaintiffs claims could result in the denial of lawfully prescribed and medically 9 necessary drugs to combat their condition, based on the asserted religious or moral judgment of 10 the dispensing pharmacist or pharmacy. They do not claim that they have been denied access to 11 lawfully prescribed medications in the past. 12 The remaining Intervenors are women of child-bearing age who have been denied access

13 to Plan B, who have heard that pharmacists in various pharmacies will refuse to dispense Plan B 14 and will judge, intimidate, or harass them, who have engaged in test shopping to determine 15 which pharmacies will not deliver Plan B, or who simply want to participate in order to ensure 16 that women have access to Plan B. 17 B. The Pharmacy Board Rules and Their Operation. 18 The Boards 2007 rulemaking resulted in two new rules: the delivery rule and the

19 pharmacist responsibility rule. The Board also gave a new interpretation to its pre-existing 20 21
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There may be disagreement about the actual scientific operation of the drugs, or 22 whether they are in fact abortifacients. The court did not admit evidence on either side regarding this issue, and instead accepted Plaintiffs testimony that their faith precludes them 23 from delivering the drugs. [See Dkt. #458] This case is about the States ability to require Plaintiffs to deliver the drugs in the face of that belief, not about whether the belief is reasonable 24 or scientifically supportable. No party or witness disputes that Plaintiffs hold the belief.

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1 stocking rule. The effect of the new rules and the new interpretation is to force religious 2 objectors to dispense Plan B. 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 The delivery rule imposes a duty to deliver on pharmacies: (1) Pharmacies have a duty to deliver lawfully prescribed drugs or devices to patients and to distribute drugs and devices . . . in a timely manner consistent with reasonable expectations for filling the prescription, except for the following or substantially similar circumstances: (a) Prescriptions containing an obvious or known error . . . (b) National or state emergencies or guidelines affecting availability . . . (c) Lack of specialized equipment or expertise needed to safely produce, store, or dispense drugs . . . (d) Potentially fraudulent prescriptions; or (e) Unavailability of drug or device despite good faith compliance with WAC 246-869-150. (2) Nothing in this section requires pharmacies to deliver a drug or device without payment of their usual and customary or contracted charge.

11 Wash. Admin. Code 246-869-010 (entitled Pharmacies Responsibilities). The delivery rule 12 operates in tandem with the stocking rule, which requires a pharmacy to stock a representative 13 assortment of drugs in order to meet the pharmaceutical needs of its patients. Id. 246-869-150 14 (entitled Physical standards for pharmaciesAdequate stock). The rules, however, do not 15 apply directly to pharmacists themselves. 16 Pharmacists have a statutory right to conscientious objection, and thus, may not be

17 required by law or contract in any circumstances to participate in the provision of or payment 18 for a specific service if they object to so doing for reason of conscience or religion. Wash. Rev. 19 Code 48.43.065(2)(a) (applying to health care providers, including pharmacists). The 20 Boards 2007 pharmacist responsibility rule recognized this right. It prohibits a pharmacist 21 from destroying or refusing to return unfilled a lawful prescription, from violating a patients 22 privacy, and from unlawfully discriminating against, intimidating, or harassing a patient. See id. 23 246-863-095. A pharmacist may refuse to fill a prescription, but a pharmacy may not. 24

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1 Accordingly, a pharmacy employing a pharmacist with a religious objection to Plan B can 2 discharge its obligation under the delivery rule by having another on-duty pharmacist deliver the 3 medication. The practical effect of the delivery rule (and the boards current interpretation of the 4 stocking rule) nevertheless directly and adversely impacts pharmacists with a religious objection 5 to dispensing Plan B. 6 Pharmacies without the need or ability to have two pharmacists on duty at all times

7 cannot employ a pharmacist with a religious objection to dispensing Plan B without risking a 8 violation of the delivery rule, if a patient with a valid Plan B prescription seeks to have it filled at 9 that pharmacy. Nor does the fact that the rules obligate the pharmacy (and not the pharmacist) to 10 timely deliver lawfully prescribed medications permit a pharmacist operating his own pharmacy 11 to comply with the delivery rule without violating his conscience. Because a pharmacy must fill 12 a prescription for Plan B, if it employs a pharmacist who objects, it must staff a second 13 pharmacist simply to ensure that the pharmacy can comply. In effect, the conscientious objector 14 costs the pharmacy twice what a single, non-conscientious objector does. For pharmacies that 15 need only one pharmacist per shift, such a cost is unreasonable, and the pharmacys only real 16 option is to fire the conscientious objector. The delivery rule thus renders the pharmacists right 17 to conscientious objection illusory. 18 In the case of a pharmacy owner with religious objections to Plan B, there is no option

19 other than to leave the businessand the Board was well aware of this result when it designed 20 the rule.6 21 22
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The Board of Pharmacys own formal analysis of the rules impact recognized that 23 pharmacy owners [may] close rather than dispense medications that conflict with their beliefs. Final Significant Analysis for Rule Concerning Pharmacists Professional Responsibilities, WAC 24 246-863-095 & Pharmacies Responsibilities, WAC 246-869-010 at 12. [Pl.s Ex. 434]. But the

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In practice, both the stocking rule and delivery rule contain exemptions not present in

2 their text. While the stocking rule states pharmacies must carry a representative assortment of 3 drugs requested by its patients, in practice, pharmacies refuse to carry drugs for a variety of 4 reasons. Pharmacies regularly refuse to stock such drugs as oxycodone for fear of robbery; they 5 refuse to dispense syringes because they dislike the clientele they associate with the product. 6 Pharmacies may decline to stock a drug because it is expensive, because the return on 7 investment is less than desired, or because of the hassle factoradditional paperwork or 8 patient tracking. Pharmacies may decline to stock drugs because they have contracted with 9 manufacturers of competing drugs or because the pharmacy opts to serve a particular niche 10 market. None of these exemptions exist in the text of the rules; but in practice, the Board allows 11 pharmacies to shape their stock rather than allowing patients to do so. Further, the Board has no 12 written policy or procedure about how to enforce the stocking rule. And in at least 40 years, the 13 Board has never enforced the stocking rule against any pharmacyuntil the delivery rule 14 required pharmacies to deliver Plan B. 15 Like the stocking rule, the delivery rule operates far more loosely than its text suggests.

16 For example, the Board has interpreted the delivery rule to allow pharmacies to refuse to deliver 17 a drug because it does not accept a patients particular insurance or because it does not accept 18 Medicare or Medicaid. That leeway exists because the delivery rule exempts a pharmacy from 19 its duty to deliver in not just the five enumerated categories, but in all substantially similar 20 circumstances. 21 22 Board found that any disruption in access to medications would be temporary because, if there 23 is sufficient consumer demand in the area, a pharmacy . . . may be purchased and run by a new operator who will comply with these rules. Id. In other words, the Board contemplated its rules 24 would result in pharmacies run by religious-objectors being replaced by non-objectors.

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1 C. Development of the Board of Pharmacy Regulations. 2 The Boards regulations have been aimed at Plan B and conscientious objectors from

3 their inception. The events leading to promulgation began in 2005, when Planned Parenthood 4 and the Northwest Womens Law Center contacted Christina Hulet, Senior Health Policy 5 Advisor to the Governor, who began meeting with the groups. Ms. Hulet then referred the 6 groups to Steven Saxe, the Pharmacy Boards Executive Director, and in doing so, informed Mr. 7 Saxe that Northwest Womens Law Center was looking into the issue of a pharmacists right to 8 refuse to fill a prescription for moral/religious views and that the groups [were] considering 9 pushing for national or state legislation on the issue. Pl.s Ex. 13. That causebarring a 10 pharmacists right of conscienceplayed a decisive role in the Boards rulemaking. Indeed, 11 Plaintiffs have presented reams of emails, memoranda, and letters between the Governors 12 representatives, Pharmacy Board members, and advocacy groups demonstrating that the 13 predominant purpose of the rule was to stamp out the right to refuse. 14 Negotiations among the Board, the Governor, the Washington State Pharmacy

15 Association, Planned Parenthood, the Northwest Womens Law Center, and other groups, led the 16 Board to adopt a draft rule in June 2006. The draft rule allowed a pharmacist the right to refuse 17 for conscience reasons. The Governor objected: I strongly oppose the draft pharmacist refusal 18 rules . . . . [N]o one should be denied appropriate prescription drugs based on the personal, 19 religious, or moral objection of individual pharmacists. Pl.s Ex. 104 (letter from Governor 20 Gregoire to Dr. Asaad Awan, Chair of Board of Pharmacy). Days later, the Governor threatened 21 to replace the entire Board if the draft rule was not changed. Pl.s Exs. 96 &117. 22 On June 7, 2006, Planned Parenthood and the Northwest Womens Law Center submitted

23 an alternative rule. Pl.s Ex. 123. After minor alterations made by the Governors office and the 24 Washington State Pharmacy Association, the Governor sent handwritten comments to Ms. Hulet,

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1 asking whether this draft [is] clean enough for the advocates re: conscious/moral issues cant 2 allow pharmacist to refuse? Pl.s Ex. 139 (citing internal Governors office memorandum). 3 4 5 6 Pl.s Exs. 154 & 155 (emphasis added). Mr. Saxe was asking, rightfully, why the Board did not 7 simply draft clear language to do exactly what it was attempting to do with vague languagebar 8 pharmacists and pharmacies from conscientiously objecting, while at the same time allowing 9 pharmacies and pharmacists to refuse to dispense for practically any other reason. Doing so 10 would be easier, of course, than trying to draft language to allow facilitating a referral for only 11 . . . non-moral or non-religious reasons, the ultimate goal of the proposed draft. Pl.s Ex. 157 12 (email from Mr. Saxe to Ms. Hulet). Indeed, Mr. Saxes division of reasons not to dispense into 13 illegitimate (i.e., moral reasons) and legitimate (i.e., any other reason) highlights the goal of the 14 Board, the Governor, and the advocacy groups: to eliminate conscientious objection. At trial, 15 Mr. Saxe admitted that the rule targeted conscientious objectors: 16 17 18 19 Q. And it was your understanding that the intent of the proposed rule was to allow professional judgment and as youve indicated business reasons that are consistent with the time honored practices of pharmacy but not moral or religious reasons, right? A. I believe so, yes. Mr. Saxe responded to the alternative rule with an honest, and telling, question: Would a statement that does not allow a pharmacist/pharmacy the right to refuse for moral or religious judgment be clearer? This would leave intact the ability to decline to dispense (provide alternatives) for most legitimate examples raised; clinical, fraud, business, skill, etc.

20 Trial Tr. vol. 3 at 32, Nov. 30, 2011. 21 The Governor then convened a taskforce, consisting of representatives of the WSPA,

22 Planned Parenthood, Northwest Womens Law Center, Board members, and a University of 23 Washington professor. The group agreed that a pharmacy would be permitted to refer patients 24

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1 for a broad range of business reasons, but referral for reasons of conscience was objectionable 2 and should not be permitted. 3 The Board preliminarily approved the Governors rule in August 2006, and adopted the

4 rule in April 2007. Following approval, the Board sent a guidance letter to pharmacies and 5 pharmacists on how to comply. Pl.s Ex. 436. The Boards letter explains that facilitated referral 6 is permissible except in cases of conscientious objection to Plan B.7 7 D. Procedural History. 8 Plaintiffs commenced this action on July 25, 2007, and the rules became effective the

9 following day. In September 2007, the Court heard oral argument on Plaintiffs Motion for a 10 Preliminary Injunction. In a written Order, the Court enjoined enforcement of the rules as to all 11 pharmacists and pharmacies practicing refuse and refer pending trial: 12 13 14 The defendants are enjoined from enforcing WAC 246-863-095 (4)(d) and WAC 246-869-010 (4)(d) (the anti-discrimination provisions) against any pharmacy which, or pharmacist who, refuses to dispense Plan B but instead immediately refers the patient either to the nearest source of Plan B or to a nearby source for Plan B.

15 See Order, Dkt. # 95, November 8, 2007. The Courts injunction was based on its view that 16 Plaintiffs were likely to succeed on their free exercise claim. As they did during the rulemaking
8 17 process and throughout this litigation, Plaintiffs argued that refuse and refer accommodates their

18 19 20 21 In fact, the Boards July 2007 Notice to Pharmacists regarding the Boards new rules was internally titled <<pharmacyplnB103_001.pdf>>. See Pl.s Ex. 275 (emphasis added).
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Prior to the development and implementation of the 2007 Rules, pharmacists and 22 pharmacies with a religious objection to dispensing Plan B engaged in a practice known throughout this litigation as refuse and refer or facilitated referral. The requesting patient 23 would be referred to a nearby pharmacy which would dispense the medication. This practice was apparently permitted under the Board of Pharmacys prior rules. 24

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1 religious beliefs while ensuring that patients have timely access to lawfully prescribed 2 medications, including Plan B. 3 The State and the Intervenors appealed and asked the Ninth Circuit to stay this Courts

4 injunction. The Motion to Stay was denied on May 1, 2008. See Stormans v. Selecky, 526 F.3d 5 406 (9th Cir. 2008). On March 6, 2009, while the appeal was pending and a trial on the merits 6 without guidance from the Ninth Circuit was impending, the parties stipulated to a stay of the 7 case until the Ninth Circuits decision and, if necessary, the subsequent trial. See Order on 8 Stipulation [Dkt. #355]. The State agreed not to take investigative or enforcement action 9 against Plaintiffs or their employers under WAC 246-863-095(4)(d) or WAC 246-869-010(4)(d) 10 until a trial on the merits has concluded. 11 The parties also agreed that, if the Ninth Circuit vacated this Courts injunction, the State

12 would notify the Court if they received any complaints that a non-party pharmacy or pharmacist 13 was failing to comply with 246-869-010(4)(d) or 246-863-095(4)(d), and that no 14 investigation of any such complaint would proceed absent the Courts approval. Though the 15 State reported the receipt of two such complaints, they did not seek to investigate them from the 16 date of the Stipulation through the date of trial. 17 The Ninth Circuit issued an Opinion reversing this Courts injunction on July 8, 2009.

18 See Stormans v. Selecky, 571 F.3d 960 (9th Cir. 2009). After rehearing by the Ninth Circuit 19 panel, that Opinion was vacated and superseded by an Opinion dated October 28, 2009. See 20 Stormans v. Selecky, 586 F.3d 1109 (9th Cir. 2009). The Opinion reversed this Courts 21 injunction. 22 In reversing the injunction, the Court of Appeals held that this Court had applied the

23 wrong preliminary injunction standard in light of the Supreme Courts intervening decision in 24

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1 Winter v. Natural Resources Defense Council, 555 U.S. 7 (2008) (invalidating the Ninth 2 Circuits possibility of irreparable injury standard as too lenient).9 Further, the Ninth Circuit 3 held that, based on the evidentiary record at the time, the Court should have applied a rational4 basis test instead of an ends/means test, which it equated to heightened scrutiny. See 5 Stormans, 586 F.3d at 1131 (noting that the evidentiary record was thin). In considering the 6 merits, the Court of Appeals held that Plaintiffs were unlikely to succeed, and that the injunction 7 was overly broad because it applied to all pharmacists and pharmacies practicing refuse and 8 refer. The Court of Appeals further held that even if an injunction was warranted, it should 9 have been limited to the named Plaintiffs. 10 The Ninth Circuit remanded the case for evaluation of Plaintiffs Motion for a

11 Preliminary Injunction under the correct standards. Because the parties had already stipulated to 12 a stay of the litigation and enforcement of the rules against Plaintiffs, this Court did not 13 reevaluate Plaintiffs Motion for a Preliminary Injunction under the guidance of the Ninth 14 Circuits Opinion. 15 In 2010, the Board of Pharmacy undertook a new rulemaking process, during which they

16 considered whether to include in the delivery rule an exception for conscience. At the request of 17 Plaintiffs and the State (and over the objection of the Intervenors), the Court struck the trial date 18 and stayed this litigation pending the outcome of that rulemaking process. See Order on 19 Stipulation [Dkt. #447]. The Board did not change the rules to include a conscience exception. 20 21 22
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Judge Wardlaws opinion also held that the Plaintiffs had standing and that, with the 23 exception of their claims against the Human Rights Commission, Plaintiffs claims were ripe. On remand, this Court dismissed the Plaintiffs claims against the Human Rights Commission. 24 See Order Granting Mot. to Dismiss [Dkt. #376].

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1 The stay was lifted and the case proceeded to an twelve day bench trial. The full evidentiary 2 record has now been developed. 3 4 III. DISCUSSION Plaintiffs assert three constitutional claims, all through the usual vehicle of 42 U.S.C.

5 1983: that the Board of Pharmacy rules violate (1) their right to substantive due process; (2) 6 their right to free exercise of religion; and (3) their right to equal protection. See Second Am. 7 Compl., at 5884 [Dkt. #474]. Plaintiffs also assert that the Boards rules violate and are 8 preempted by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq. Id. 7174. The 9 Court addresses each claim in turn. 10 A. Plaintiffs Fourteenth Amendment Substantive Due Process Claim. 11 Though it is not the claim that received the most attention in this litigation, Plaintiffs

12 core position is that they have a fundamental right to refrain from actively participating in the
10 13 termination of a human life under the Fourteenth Amendments Substantive Due Process

14 Clause. They argue that the State cannot force them to violate their right of conscience, absent 15 the application of a rule narrowly tailored to achieve a compelling state interest. 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Plaintiffs draw a bright line between pharmacies and pharmacists with a sincere religious objection to dispensing emergency contraceptives, and those who might claim the right to refuse to deliver lawfully prescribed medications for reasons of common bigotry. The Intervenors, for example, are concerned that recognizing an exception to the delivery rule for moral objections or judgments would permit a pharmacy or pharmacist to refuse to dispense time-sensitive HIV drugs because it or she claimed to be religiously or morally opposed to the lifestyle of the patient requesting them. If the Plaintiffs are permitted to refuse to deliver Plan B because they have fundamental right not to do so (in the absence of a rule narrowly tailored to achieve a compelling state interest), the Intervenors concerns on this point would vanish. If it exists at all, the fundamental right at stake is the limited and narrowly defined right to refuse to actively participate in terminating a life.
10

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Plaintiffs sincerely-held religious belief precludes them from dispensing Plan B, which

2 they view as active participation in the destruction of a human life. The religious right of 3 conscience they assert (and seek to defend) in this case is qualitatively different than the 4 sincerely held beliefs at issue in countless opinions discussing a States regulatory impact on 5 religious practices in the free exercise context.11 6 The Due Process Clause guarantees more than fair process, and the liberty it protects

7 includes more than the absence of physical restraint. Due Process also provides heightened 8 protection against government interference with certain fundamental rights and liberty interests. 9 Washington v. Glucksberg, 521 U.S. 702, 720-21 (1997) (internal citations omitted). 10 The substantive due process analysis has two primary features. First, in order to warrant

11 this heightened protection, a right or interest must be, objectively, deeply rooted in this Nations 12 history and tradition. It must be implicit in the concept of ordered liberty such that neither 13 liberty nor justice would exist if [it was] sacrificed. Id. (quoting Moore v. City of East 14 Cleveland, 431 U.S. 494 (1977) and Palko v. Connecticut, 302 U.S. 319 (1937)). 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 An incomplete but representative list: Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah, 508 U.S. 520 (1993) (sacrificing animals); Lee v. Weisman, 505 U.S. 577 (1992) (school prayer); Employment Div. v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872 (1990) (ingesting illegal drugs); U.S. v. Lee, 455 U.S. 252 (1982) (payment of taxes); Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205 (1972) (school attendance); Sherbert v. Verner, 374 U.S. 398 (1963) (refusal to work on the Sabbath); Reynolds v. U.S., 98 U.S. 145 (1878) (polygamy); Ward v. Polite, ___ F.3d ___, 2012 WL 251939 (6th Cir. 2012) (counseling homosexuals); Grayson v Schuler, ___F.3d ___, 2012 WL 130454, (7th Cir. 2012) (hair length); Lighthouse Inst. for Evangelism, Inc. v. City of Long Branch, 510 F.3d 253 (3rd Cir. 2007) (zoning restrictions); Tenafly Eruv Assn Inc. v. Borough of Tenafly, 309 F.3d 144 (3rd Cir. 2002) (placement of lechis on public property); Fraternal Order of Police v. City of Newark, 170 F.3d 359 (3rd Cir. 1999) (facial hair), Adams v. Commr of Internal Revenue, 170 F.3d 173 (3rd Cir. 1999) (refusing to pay taxes); May v. Baldwin, 109 F.3d 557 (9th Cir. 1997) (dreadlocks); Mitchell County v Zimmerman, ___ N.W.2d ___, 2012 WL 333777 (Iowa 2012) (steel cleats on tractor tires).
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Second, the fundamental liberty interest at stake must also be subject to a careful

2 description. Id. at 721 (citing Reno v. Flores, 507 U.S. 292, 302 (1993)). The crucial 3 guideposts for responsible decision-making in evaluating the existence of a fundamental right 4 are the nations history, legal traditions, and practices. Id. (internal quotations and citations 5 omitted). The question is whether the right is so rooted in the traditions and conscience of our 6 people as to be ranked as fundamental. Snyder v. Commonwealth, 291 U.S. 97, 105 (1934). If 7 so, the right may not be infringed at all, no matter what process is provided, unless the 8 infringement is narrowly tailored to serve a compelling state interest. Glucksberg, 521 U.S. at 9 721 (quoting Flores, 507 U.S. at 302). In short, if a right is deemed fundamental, any law 10 infringing that right must pass strict scrutiny. 11 The Supreme Court has cautioned that because guide posts for responsible decision

12 making in this unchartered area are scarce and open-ended, courts should be reluctant to 13 expand the concept of substantive due process. Glucksberg, 521 U.S. at 720. In Glucksberg, 14 the Supreme Court held that Washingtons (then) ban on assisted suicide was constitutional, 15 because the right to determine the time and manner of ones death was not a fundamental one 16 as measured against the nations history, legal traditions, and practices. Instead, the list of 17 fundamental rights (beyond those enumerated in the Bill of Rights) recognized by the Supreme 18 Court was, and is, a short one.12 It includes: 19 20 21
12

[T]he rights to marry, Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. (1967); to have children, Skinner v. Oklahoma ex rel. Williamson, 316 U.S. 535 (1942); to direct the

The Supreme Court is demonstrably and understandably reticent to recognize new 22 fundamental rights, even when it determines that long-standing laws are unconstitutional. The most recent example of this is the Courts decision in Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003) 23 (striking down Texas sodomy statute on Fourteenth Amendment grounds but stopping short of calling the right to engage in homosexual behavior fundamental). 24

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1 2 3 4

education and upbringing of one's children, Meyer v. Nebraska, 262 U.S. 390 (1923); Pierce v. Society of Sisters, 268 U.S. 510 (1925); to marital privacy, Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965); to use contraception, ibid; Eisenstadt v. Baird, 405 U.S. 438 (1972); to bodily integrity, Rochin v. California, 342 U.S. 165 (1952), and to abortion, [Planned Parenthood v.] Casey, [505 U.S. 833 (1992)]. Glucksberg, 521 U.S. at 720. The Supreme Court also noted that it had assumed, and strongly

5 suggested that one had a fundamental right to refuse unwanted lifesaving medical treatment. Id., 6 (citing Cruzan v. Dir., Mo. Dept of Health, 497 U.S. 261, 278 (1990)). 7 But the Glucksberg Court refused to extend Cruzans recognition of the fundamental 8 right to refuse unwanted end-of-life medical care to a fundamental right to receive the assistance 9 of another in proactively seeking suicide. The nations historical legal tradition was precisely the 10 opposite; almost every state had made a policy choice against assisted suicide from each states 11 founding. If a thing has been practiced for two hundred years by common consent, it will need 12 a strong case for the Fourteenth Amendment to affect it. Id. (quoting Flores, 507 U.S. at 303). 13 The Court held the states ban on assisted suicide was constitutional, on its face and as applied. 14 Id. 15 Less than 15 years after Glucksberg, Washington made a policy decision to permit (and 16 to regulate, rather than ban) assisted suicide. See Washingtons Death with Dignity Act, Rev. 17 Code of Wash. 70.245. In support of their claim that the right to refrain from taking a life is 18 fundamental, Plaintiffs emphasize that that Act specifically allows medical providersincluding 19 pharmaciststo refuse to participate in an assisted suicide. 20 Plaintiffs argue that this is only the latest example of the nations tradition recognizing 21 the fundamental right to refuse to take a human life over a sincere religious or moral objection. 22 They cite the long history of conscientious objectors to military service, which goes back to 23 24

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1 colonial times. The right has also been consistently protected for health care practitioners in the 2 context of abortion, abortifacient drugs, assisted suicide, and capital punishment. 3 In the wake of Glucksberg and the Death with Dignity Act, it is clear that Washington

4 State can bar medical providers from assisting in taking life, and it can allow them to participate 5 in taking a life. But can the state compel medical providers to participate in taking a life? If the 6 Death with Dignity Act had required medical providers to participate in assisted suicide, there is 7 little doubt that the medical providers would have the right to refuse to do so. The only 8 difference between this difficult case and that presumably easy one is that here, the parties do not 9 agree that a life is at stake. There is no doubt about the consequences of assisted suicide; here, 10 there is doubt. 11 It is unlikely that there would ever be the political will to mandate that a doctor

12 participate in an assisted suicide, a capital punishment, or an abortion. While the right of 13 conscience in the abortion context has been recognized as constitutionally permissible (see, for 14 example, Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179 (1973)), the Supreme Court has not yet had to address the 15 corollary question of whether a doctor has a fundamental, constitutionally-protected right of 16 conscience. 17 Neither the State nor the Intervenors directly dispute that there is a long national tradition

18 and practice of recognizing the right to refrain from taking a life. Instead, they appear to 19 honestly believe that there is a significant, qualitative difference between administering a lethal 20 injection to a terminally ill patient or a convicted murderer, or killing an enemy combatant, on 21 the one hand, and dispensing an over the counter emergency contraceptive hours after 22 unprotected sex, on the other. Indeed, they describe the rules requirement that Catholic23 24

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1 affiliated pharmacies stock and dispense Plan B as a technical violation of the Churchs 2 directives against doing so.13 [See Dkt. #523, at 5]. 3 But for Plaintiffs, there is no doubtthese acts are the same. It is not this Courts

4 business to evaluat[e] the relative merits of differing religious beliefs, and it is not within the 5 judicial ken to question the centrality of particular beliefs or practices to a faith, or the validity of 6 particular litigants interpretations of those creeds. Emp. Div., Dept of Human Res. of Ore. v. 7 The State argues that it is constitutionally prohibited from recognizing a right of 8 conscience exception to the delivery rule. It claims an accommodation specific to Plaintiffs religious beliefs and objections would implicate the prohibitions in the First Amendments 9 Establishment Clause, and would violate its First Amendment obligation to maintain governmental neutrality between religion and religion, and between religion and nonreligion. 10 See Dkt. #534, at 2 & 4, Citing McCreary v. ACLU, 545 U.S. 844, 860 (2005) (internal citations omitted). 11 This position is flawed for at least two reasons. First, the Supreme Court has never held that statutes giving special consideration to religious groups are per se invalid. That would run 12 contrary to the teaching of its cases that there is ample room for accommodation of religion under the Establishment Clause. Corp. of Presiding Bishop of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter13 Day Saints v. Amos, 483 U.S. 327, 338 (1987) (internal references omitted). The Amos Court certainly did not so hold; to the contrary, it upheld 702 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (which 14 creates an exception for religious employers) against an Establishment Clause challenge. Id. at 330. See also Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, __S. Ct. __, 15 2012 WL 75047 (2012). The Supreme Court has repeatedly recognized that the government may (and sometimes must) accommodate religious practices and that it may do so without 16 violating the Establishment Clause. Amos, 438 U.S. at 334 (quoting Hobbie v. Unemployment Appeals Commn of Fla., 480 U.S. 136, 144-45 (1987)). 17 Secondly, the States own argument acknowledges that whether or not exceptions for conscience are constitutionally required, no case has ever held that they are not constitutionally 18 permitted. See Dkt. #534 at 5, n. 1, arguing that governmental recognition of a right of conscience is a matter of legislative grace. Indeed, the State affirmatively sought a stay of this 19 litigation in July 2010, so that the Board of Pharmacy could revisit the rulemaking process to consider incorporating a conscience exception into the delivery rule. That effort resulted in no 20 change, but a rule recognizing the right asserted by Plaintiffs here would not violate the Establishment Clause. 21 The evidence is undisputed that the Board twice considered and rejected a conscience exception, for reasons that had nothing to do with the States now-claimed fear of violating the 22 Establishment Clause. If anything, an Establishment Clause issue is raised by the Boards failure to enforce its delivery and stocking rules against Catholic-affiliated pharmacies. This failure is 23 discussed below. 24
13

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1 Smith, 494 U.S. 872, 887 (1990) (quoting U.S. v. Lee, 455 U.S. 252, 263 n. 2 (1982); Hernandez 2 v. Commr, 490 U.S. 680, 699 (1989)). 3 In the initial rulemaking process and throughout this litigation, the State and the

4 Intervenors have dismissed Plaintiffs religious beliefs about the implications of dispensing 5 emergency contraceptives as unworthy of the same sorts of protections they would, presumably, 6 freely recognize in another context. Indeed, they view the decision that confronts people of faith 7 as minor, even quaint, burdens on religious practices like regulations on facial hair, dreadlocks, 8 drug use, land use regulation, taxation, and the like. They argue that Plaintiffs sincere belief 9 about an issue at the core of their religion is not entitled to constitutional protection, but is 10 instead granted (or not) as a matter of legislative grace. 11 In Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court acknowledged that experts in medicine, philosophy,

12 and theology could not agree upon when life begins. It therefore refused to adopt its own 13 definition of the beginning of life. Thirty years later, we are perhaps no closer to definitively 14 answering that question as a society. But, whether or not they are correct, the Plaintiffs sincerely 15 believe they know the answer, and are compelled to act accordingly. 16 Because the beginning of life has not been defined for purposes of constitutional law, it is

17 unclear whether the Supreme Court would apply abortion or contraception precedent to 18 emergency contraceptives. When the Supreme Court addressed the murky question of when life 19 begins, it recognized a constitutional right for women to choose to terminate a pregnancy in 20 some circumstances. The question in this case is whether a corollary to that fundamental 21 freedom to choose is a similar constitutional protection of an honest, good faith belief that life 22 begins at the moment of conception. 23 24

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In this Courts view, the answer is clear. However, the Supreme Court has never taken

2 the opportunity to add the right to refuse to participate in the taking of a life to the limited list 3 of constitutionally-protected fundamental rights it has recognized. Given the Supreme Courts 4 prudent warning on the extension of fundamental rights, and the novel circumstances this case 5 presents, this Court will not extend the scope of existing substantive due process. The Supreme 6 Court will have to answer that question in the affirmative before this Court can recognize the 7 fundamental right the Plaintiffs assert. 8 B. Plaintiffs First Amendment Free Exercise of Religion Claim. 9 10 1. Free Exercise Claims under Smith and Lukumi. The heart of this case lies in the Free Exercise Clause. Plaintiffs contend that the

11 stocking and delivery rules, as applied, violate their right to free exercise of their religion. In 12 effect, the rules force them to choose between their religious beliefs and their livelihood. 13 The First Amendment provides in part that Congress shall make no law respecting an

14 establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. U.S. Const., amend. I. 15 (emphasis added). These clauses are the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause, 16 respectively. They are made applicable to the States through the Fourteenth Amendment. See 17 Cantwell v. State of Conn. 310 U.S. 296, 303 (1940). 18 Under the Free Exercise Clause, a law that is neutral and of general applicability need

19 not be justified by a compelling governmental interest even if the law has the incidental effect of 20 burdening a particular religious practice. Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah, 21 508 U.S. 520, 531 (1993). In short, if a law is neutral and generally applicable, it need only be 22 rationally related to a legitimate government interest; if not, it must meet strict scrutiny. See 23 Stormans Inc. v. Selecky, 586 F.3d 1109, 112930 (9th Cir. 2009). 24

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Any free-exercise analysis must begin with two cases: Employment Division, Department

2 of Human Resources of Oregon v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872 (1990) and Church of Lukumi Babalu 3 Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah, 508 U.S. 520 (1993). Smith and Lukumi represent the outer markers 4 on the free exercise spectrum, delineating the range of permissible regulations. 5 Smith illustrates a law that burdens religious conduct but is constitutionally permissible.

6 There, plaintiffs sought and were denied unemployment compensation after they were fired for 7 using peyote. Smith, 494 U.S. at 874. Plaintiffs argued that they had taken the drug as part of a 8 religious ceremony at their Native American Church, and thus, the state law barring peyote use 9 was unconstitutional under the Free Exercise Clause (as it applied to them). Id. The Supreme 10 Court disagreed. Id. at 890. 11 Justice Scalia explained that the Free Exercise Clause protects, first and foremost, the

12 right to believe and profess whatever religious doctrine one desires. Id. at 877 (noting that the 13 government cannot regulate, punish, or compel a religious belief as such). Beyond belief itself, 14 the Free Exercise Clause also protects the performance (or abstention from performance) of 15 various physical acts: assembling with others for a worship service, participating in sacramental 16 use of bread and wine, proselytizing, abstaining from certain foods or certain modes of 17 transportation. Id. at 878. It is well established that the state cannot prohibit such acts: 18 19 20 Id. at 87778. 21 While the Free Exercise Clause immunizes religious beliefs themselves, the Clause 22 obviously cannot and does not bar regulation of all religiously-based conduct. Indeed, the 23 Supreme Court has never held that an individuals religious beliefs excuse him from complying 24 It would be true, we think (though no case of ours has involved the point), that a State would be [impermissibly] prohibiting the free exercise of religion if it sought to ban such acts or abstentions only when they are engaged in for religious reasons, or only because of the religious belief that they display.

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1 with an otherwise valid law prohibiting conduct that a State is free to regulate. Id. at 87879. 2 To do otherwise would permit every citizen to become a law unto himself. Id. at 879 (quoting 3 Reynolds v. United States, 98 U. S. 145, 166167 (1879)). Recognizing that Oregons law 4 barring peyote was neutral (it did not target religious conduct), and it was generally applicable (it 5 applied to all citizens regardless of religious affiliation), the Supreme Court determined that the 6 law was constitutionally applied. Id. at 890. 7 At the other end of the spectrum, Lukumi illustrates a government regulation that burdens

8 religious conduct but is not constitutionally permissible. In Lukumi, the City of Hialeah passed a 9 series of ordinances prohibiting the ritual sacrifice of animals after a Santeria church, which 10 practices animal sacrifice, announced plans to open in the City. Lukumi, 508 U.S. at 52628. 11 The Citys residents were distressed at the news, and in response, the city council passed an 12 ordinance making it unlawful for any person, persons, corporations or associations to sacrifice 13 any animal within the corporate limits of the City of Hialeah, Florida. Id. at 528. The 14 ordinance defined sacrifice as to unnecessarily kill, torment, torture, or mutilate an animal in 15 a public or private ritual or ceremony not for the primary purpose of food consumption. Id. at 16 527. The ordinances, according to the City, were necessary to protect the public health, safety, 17 welfare and morals of the community. Id. at 528. The ordinance exempted, however, the 18 slaughter or processing for sale of small numbers of hogs and/or cattle per week, as well as 19 hunting, euthanasia, and the eradication of pests. Id. at 528, 537. 20 The Supreme Court found that the ordinances allowed the killing of animals for a wide

21 range of secular reasons but barred the same conduct when religiously-motivated, and thus, the 22 ordinances were unconstitutionally targeted. Id. at 536 (careful drafting ensured that, although 23 Santeria sacrifice is prohibited, killings that are no more necessary or humane in almost all other 24

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1 circumstances are unpunished). The Hialeah ordinances fell well short of the constitutional 2 minimum because they were substantially underinclusive to meet the Citys stated interests in 3 protecting the public health and preventing cruelty to animals. Id. 4 Plaintiffs emphasize that the rules in Lukumi were well beyond what is permissible

5 under the Free Exercise Clause, and argue that the rules at issue here resemble those rules more 6 than the peyote prohibition at issue in Smith. The State argues that the case bears a greater 7 resemblance to Smith. The evidence at trial demonstrates that the Plaintiffs are correct. The 8 Board of Pharmacys rules are neither neutral nor generally applicable, as is discussed below. 9 10 2. Law of the Case. Having articulated the legal standards against which the States 2007 rules and the

11 Plaintiffs claims must be evaluated, the Court must here detour to address Defendants argument 12 that the Ninth Circuit has already conclusively established that the rules are neutral and generally 13 applicable, and that they are therefore subject only to rational basis review as a matter of law. 14 The State and the Intervenors rely on the statement in the Ninth Circuits Opinion that

15 [b]ecause the rules are neutral and generally applicable, the district court should have subjected 16 the rules to the rational basis standard of review. Stormans, 586 F.3d at 1137. They argue that 17 the sole question on remand is whether the rules can withstand that deferential level of 18 scrutinyan issue upon which the Defendants sought summary judgment. [See Dkt. #s 391 & 19 393]. Because the Opinion signaled that the rules survive rational basis review but properly left 20 the final determination to this Court, the trial was largely for show. [Dkt. #391 at 11]. They 21 continue to assert that because the Plaintiffs could not negate every conceivable rational basis 22 for the rules their Free Exercise claim, it must be rejected. 23 Plaintiffs argue that Orders reviewing Preliminary Injunctions have traditionally not been

24 accorded law of the case preclusive effect in later proceedings (see, for example, Golden State

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1 Transit Corp. v. City of Los Angeles, 754 F.2d 830, 832 (9th Cir. 1985), in part because they are 2 necessarily decided on less than a complete record. They argue that the factual record in this 3 case was not then, but is now, complete, which changes the Courts analysis, and that the Ninth 4 Circuit did not purport to establish the law of the case. 5 It is true that the Opinion more than once stated that the 2007 rules were neutral and

6 generally applicable. But it also acknowledged repeatedly14 that the factual record was thin, 7 sparse, or otherwise incomplete, which it was. Because the Opinion also relied on Smith and 8 Lukumi, it is clear that it recognized that a regulations neutrality and general applicability 9 requires more than a review of the text used, and must be based on review of a complete factual 10 record. There are many ways of demonstrating that the object or purpose of a law is the 11 suppression of religion or religious conduct, and evidence of the effect of a law is strong 12 evidence of its object. Lukumi, 508 U.S. at 535. It would be curious indeed if, after doing so, 13 the Ninth Circuit actually intended that its determination on an admittedly incomplete record was 14 determinative of the issues in the case. The Defendants argument that the core question is 15 settled as a matter of law is rejected. 16 17 18 3. Neutrality. a. Facial Neutrality. As the Ninth Circuit opined, the rules at issue are facially neutral. On its face, the

19 delivery rule requires all pharmacies to timely deliver all lawfully-prescribed medications (with 20 certain enumerated exemptions). The stocking rule similarly requires all pharmacies to 21 maintain at all times a representative assortment of drugs in order to meet the pharmaceutical 22 needs of [their] patients. Wash. Admin. Code 246-869-150(1) (emphasis added). Neither rule 23 24
14

By Plaintiffs count, the Ninth Circuits Opinion made seven such references.

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1 contains any reference to religious practice, conduct, or motivation. See Stormans, 586 F.3d at 2 1130. The rules are facially neutral, and if the Board of Pharmacy applied those rules to all 3 pharmacies as written, there is little doubt that the rules would pass constitutional muster. 4 The test of neutrality is not, however, limited to a mechanical review of text. Indeed, the

5 Free Exercise Clause protects against government hostility which is masked as well as overt. 6 Lukumi, 508 U.S. at 534. Thus, the Court must meticulously survey how the rule functions in 7 practice in order to eliminate religious gerrymanderslaws tailored to regulate religiously8 motivated, but not similar secularly-motivated, conduct. See id. at 534. 9 10 b. Operational Neutrality The effect of a law in its real operation is strong evidence of its object. Lukumi, 508 U.S.

11 at 535. A law targeting religious beliefs as such is never permissible. In other words, [i]f the 12 object of a law is to infringe upon or restrict practices because of their religious motivation, the 13 law is not neutral, and it is invalid unless it can withstand strict scrutiny. Lukumi, 508 U.S. at 14 533 (internal citations omitted). Thus, a court must ask whether a laws impact on religious 15 practices is merely incidental (in which case the regulation is neutral) or intentional and targeted 16 (in which case it is not). 17 A law is not neutral if, in practice, it accomplishes a religious gerrymander. Lukumi

18 508 U.S. at 535. In Lukumi, the Supreme Court addressed three related questions in determining 19 whether the City of Hialehs ban on animal sacrifice impermissibly did so: (1) whether the 20 regulations burden falls, in practical terms, on religious objectors but almost no others; (2) 21 whether the governments interpretation of the law favors secular conduct; and (3) whether the 22 law proscribes more religious conduct than is necessary to achieve its stated ends. See Lukumi, 23 508 U.S. at 53638. Here, the answers to these inquiries show that the Board of Pharmacys 24 rules similarly accomplish a religious gerrymander.

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The burden of the delivery and stocking rules falls almost exclusively on those with

2 religious objections to dispensing Plan B. The most compelling evidence that the rules target 3 religious conduct is the fact the rules contain numerous secular exemptions. In sum, the rules 4 exempt pharmacies and pharmacists from stocking and delivering lawfully prescribed drugs for 5 an almost unlimited variety of secular reasons, but fail to provide exemptions for reasons of 6 conscience. 7 In free exercise challenges, courts consistently find unconstitutional those regulations that

8 exempt secular conduct but do not exempt similar religious conduct. In Lukumi, the Supreme 9 Court held that Hialehs ordinance banning sacrificial killing was not neutral, in part, because the 10 ordinance exempted killing for food, hunting, euthanasia, and eradication of pests. Lukumi, 508 11 U.S. at 537. The Court noted that Hialeh enforced the rules and exemptions on what seems to 12 be a per se basis. Id. The Board of Pharmacy enforces the stocking and delivery rules in the 13 same manner. 14 The Third Circuit followed Lukumis reasoning in Fraternal Order of Police Newark

15 Lodge No. 12 v. City of Newark, 170 F.3d 359 (3d Cir. 1999). There, a police department 16 regulation prohibited officers from wearing beards, ostensibly to ensure that the officers 17 presented a uniform appearance. The no beard rule contained only two narrow exceptions: 18 undercover officers were permitted to wear beards, and officers were permitted to wear beards 19 for medical reasons (e.g., due to a skin condition that made shaving difficult). The plaintiffs, 20 both Sunni Muslim officers who wore beards for religious reasons, were disciplined for violating 21 the no-beard rule. The Third Circuit found no fault with the exemption for undercover officers; 22 they were not presented to the public at all, and thus, the undercover exemption did not 23 undermine the purpose of the no-beard rule. Id. at 366. 24

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But the medical exemption undoubtedly undermine[d] the Departments interest in

2 fostering a uniform appearance. Id. The court concluded that there is no apparent reason why 3 permitting officers to wear beards for religious reasons should create any greater difficulties 4 than officers who wore beards for medical reasons. Id. 5 The Boards enforcement of its rules in this case presents the same constitutional

6 problem. Permitting pharmacies to refuse and refer for religious reasons does not create any 7 greater difficulties in terms of patient access than permitting pharmacies to refuse and refer for 8 secular reasons. 9 Three years after Fraternal Order, the Third Circuit reiterated these principles in Tenafly

10 Eruv Association, Inc. v. Borough of Tenafly, 309 F.3d 144, 169 (3rd Cir. 2002): [G]overnment 11 cannot discriminate between religiously motivated conduct and comparable secularly motivated 12 conduct in a manner that devalues religious reasons for acting. In Tenafly, Orthodox Jews in 13 the Borough of Tenafly asked the mayor and borough council for permission to place lechis on 14 utility poles to extend their eruvs. Id. at 152. The lechis were strips of black plastic tubing, 15 largely indistinguishable from tubing already placed there by the utilities themselves. Id. The 16 lechis extended the ceremonial demarcation area in which Orthodox Jews could engage in 17 otherwise prohibited activities (such as pushing a stroller or wheelchair) on the Sabbath. Id. 18 After residents expressed vehement objections, prompted by their fear that an eruv

19 would encourage Orthodox Jews to move to Tenafly, the borough council essentially took no 20 action to approve the creation of an eruv. Id. at 153. In response, Jewish leaders and a local 21 utility company constructed the eruv themselves. Id. After learning that the eruv had been 22 constructed, the Borough ordered the utility company to remove the lechis pursuant to a 23 24

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1 longstanding ordinance that prohibited the placement of signs, advertisements, or any other 2 matter on utility poles in public streets. Id. at 154. 3 The Third Circuit held that, although the ordinance was facially neutral, the Borough had

4 not applied the ordinance in a neutral manner. Id. at 167. From the drab house numbers and 5 lost animal signs to the more obtrusive holiday displays . . . the Borough has allowed private 6 citizens to affix various materials to its utility poles. Id. The Boroughs discretionary 7 application of [the ordinance] against lechis thus violated the neutrality principle, making the 8 regulation unconstitutional. Id. at 168. 9 Like the ordinances in Lukumi, Fraternal Order, and Tenafly, Plaintiffs have shown that

10 the rules at issue here are riddled with exemptions for secular conduct, but contain no such 11 exemptions for identical religiously-motivated conduct. As the Board of Pharmacy now 12 interprets the stocking rule (a rule that was enforced for the first time in 40 years against 13 Plaintiffs here), a pharmacy can decline to stock a drug for a host of secular reasons: because the 14 drug falls outside the pharmacies chosen business niche (i.e, it is a pediatric, diabetic, or fertility 15 pharmacy);15 the drug has a short shelf life; the drug is expensive; the drug requires specialized 16 training or equipment; the drug requires compounding; the drug is difficult to store; the drug 17 requires the pharmacy to monitor the patient or register with the manufacturer; the drug has an 18 additional paperwork burden; or simply that the pharmacy has a contract with the supplier of a 19 competing drug. Pharmacies regularly decline to stock oxycodone, cough medicine, and 20 Sudafed due to concerns that such drugs would make the pharmacy a target for crime. 21 22
15

Indeed, Steve Saxe (former Executive Director of the Board of Pharmacy) agreed that 23 the stocking rule allows pharmacies the leeway to stock drugs based on whatever type of pharmacy they have chosen to open. Tr. Trans. vol. 1 at 59:14, Nov. 28, 2011. 24

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1 Pharmacies can refuse to deliver syringes based on clientele concerns. Pharmacies can refuse 2 to stock for any of these secular reasonseven when there is patient demand.16 Those 3 pharmacies then can (but are not required to) refer customers to where they can obtain the drugs 4 they seek. 5 Like the stocking rule, the delivery rule is, in operation, undermined by secular

6 exceptions. A pharmacy can, for instance, decline to accept Medicare or Medicaid or the 7 patients particular insurance, and on that basis, refuse to deliver a drug that is actually on the 8 shelf. 9 Though given ample opportunity to do so, the State failed to explain why a refuse and

10 refer policy creates greater difficulties when a pharmacy declines to stock a drug for religious 11 reasons, rather than for secular reasons. A pharmacy is permitted to refuse to stock oxycodone 12 because it fears robbery, but the same pharmacy cannot refuse to stock Plan B because it objects 13 on religious grounds. Why are these reasons treated differently under the rules? Both 14 pharmacies refuse and refer, both refusals inhibit patient access, yet the secular refusal is 15 permitted and the religious refusal is not. 16 17 18
16

The Court further notes that if the Board of Pharmacy applied the stocking rule as 19 written, the rule would produce absurd results. The rule requires a pharmacy to maintain at all times a representative assortment of drugs in order to meet the pharmaceutical needs of its 20 patients. Wash. Admin. Code 246-869-150(1). With respect to Plan B, the Board has interpreted the rule to mean that if patients request the drug, then the pharmacy must stock 21 Plan B. If applied to all drugs, a pharmacys stock would be subject to the arbitrary requests of patients, and no specialized pharmacies could exist. For example, a pediatric pharmacy would 22 have to stock geriatric-specific drugs if a minimum number of elderly patients happened to request them (although the State was unable to identify what number of customer requests 23 triggers the stocking rule). See Tr. Trans. vol. 1 at 59:23; 60:2, Nov. 28, 2011 (testimony of Steve Saxe) (noting that the stocking rule grants the leeway for pharmacies to self-define; 24 giving as an example, pediatric pharmacies).

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In sum, while the Board allows pharmacies to refuse to stock drugs for countless secular

2 reasons, the Board will investigate if a religious objector refuses to stock Plan B for a religious 3 reason. The Board of Pharmacy has interpreted the rules to ensure that the burden falls squarely 4 and almost exclusively on religious objectorsaccomplishing an impermissible religious 5 gerrymander under Lukumi. 6 Defendants respond with three arguments: (1) the exemptions in the Boards rules are

7 categorical rather than individualized; (2) the exemptions further the stated goal of the rule, 8 increasing patient access; and (3) the stocking and delivery rules bar all personal objections to 9 dispensing drugs, not just religiously-motivated ones. See Intervenors Post Tr. Br. at 2, 3, 5 10 [Dkt. # 543]. Defendants are incorrect on all points. 11 First, the exemptions to the stocking rule and delivery rules are largely individualized.

12 Where an exemption requires an evaluation of the particular justification for the [conduct] . . . 13 [it] represents a system of individualized governmental assessment of the reasons for the relevant 14 conduct. Lukumi, 508 U.S. at 537. The stocking rule itself requires the Board to make an 15 individualized determination of who is a patient before it can determine whether a pharmacy 16 has violated the rule. Moreover, the stocking rules unwritten exemptions are entirely 17 individualized.17 The unwritten exemptions are ad hoc creations that allow pharmacies to shape 18 19
17

For example, Mr. Saxe testified that in determining whether a pharmacy had violated 20 the stocking rule by refusing to stock an expensive drug, the Board would consider their individual financial situation. Tr. Trans. vol. 1 at 60:25, Nov. 28, 2011. Thus, a large pharmacy might violate the stocking rule because it could better afford the 21 expensive drug, but a small pharmacy might not violate the rule because it could not. In any 22 event, the Board would be applying the rule on an ad hoc basis, considering the individual justification offered by the pharmacy. See also id at 64:2265:2 (Q. You would agree that the 23 Board has to look at the issue on a case-by-case basis, right? A. More than likely they would, yes. Q. Considering all the circumstances involved that we just talked about? A. Correct.); 24 66:1719 (Q. . . .[W]hether a drug is filled in a timely manner [under the delivery rule], you

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1 their own business. In fact, there are no guidelines for when the Board might actually enforce 2 the stocking rule outside of Plan B.18 3 Unlike the stocking rule, the delivery rule expressly mandates individualized exemptions.

4 The regulation itself says that a pharmacy will be exempt from its duty to deliver in any 5 circumstances substantially similar to the five enumerated exemptions. By necessity, the Board 6 must compare a pharmacys stated justification for refusing to dispense with the five enumerated 7 exemptions. In short, the stocking rule appears to be nothing but individualized exemptions, and 8 the delivery rule mandates individualized exemptions on its face. 9 Furthermore, even if the exemptions were entirely categorical, the Court would still find

10 them indicative of impermissible targeting. As the Third Circuit explained in Fraternal Order, a 11 courts concern should be the prospect of the governments deciding that secular motivations 12 are more important than religious motivations, and that concern is only further implicated 13 when the government does not merely create a mechanism for individualized exemptions . . . but 14 actually creates a categorical exemption [.] Fraternal Order, 170 F.3d at 365. Thus, the 15 categorical medical-exemption from the no-beard rule was sufficiently suggestive of 16 discriminatory intent so as to trigger heightened scrutiny. Id. In other words, a categorical 17 exemption may be just as indicative of targeting as an individualized one. In this case, the Board 18 of Pharmacy appears to have unfettered discretion to apply the stocking and delivery rules on a 19 per se basis, and it has exercised that discretion only against religious objectors to Plan B. 20 21 concluded that that would be determined on an individualized basis, right? A. Yes. Q. So like the 22 stocking rule, pharmacists need leeway to be able to decide whether and when a drug needs to be filled, right? A. Yeah, it could depend again on the drug, the patient, the situation.). 23 18 Tr. Trans. vol. 1 at 65:610 (testimony of Steve Saxe) (the Board has no written policy 24 or procedure for determining a violation of the stocking rule).

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Second, the exemptions discussed above do not further the stated goal of the rule. The

2 evidence at trial demonstrated that both the stocking and delivery rules have numerous unwritten 3 (but commonly recognized) exemptions. Many of those exemptions do not further patient 4 access. Patient access is not increased when a pharmacy is exempted from the stocking rule 5 because it made an advantageous contract with a competing drug manufacturer. Patient access is 6 not increased when a pharmacy is exempted from the delivery rule because it chooses not to 7 accept certain insurance, or in any of the other instances where a pharmacy is free to ignore the 8 stocking and delivery rules for secular reasons. 9 Third, the argument that the delivery and stocking rules seek to bar personal objection of

10 all kinds is unpersuasive. Intervenors Br. at 3 [Dkt. #543]. Intervenors argue that the rules 11 would ensure that, for example, a pharmacist could not refuse to stock and dispense HIV drugs 12 because they associated them with a lifestyle of which they disapproved. Luckily, common 13 bigots do not lurk amongst the rank-and-file pharmacists of Washington. Perhaps due to the 14 absence of bigots, the State was unable to present any evidence that pharmacists in Washington 15 have ever, even once, refused to stock or dispense drugs for personal reasons other than 16 religious. If common bigotry was the evil the Board sought to defeat, then including an 17 exception for conscientious objectors would hardly have been an issue. Finally, Defendants 18 cannot explain why the stocking and delivery rules are necessary to combat non-religious 19 personal objections (if they exist). The Board could take action against a pharmacist under the 20 rules governing professional responsibilities, Wash. Admin. Code 246-863-095, if a pharmacist 21 intimidated, harassed, or discriminated against a patient. In this sense, the rules are 22 overinclusive. 23 24

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The Court concludes, therefore, that the onus of the rules falls almost exclusively on

2 religious objectors to Plan B. And in the discussion above, the answer to the Lukumi Courts 3 other concerns becomes apparent. The Board of Pharmacy has interpreted the stocking and 4 delivery rules in a way that favors secular conduct over religiously-motivated conduct. The 5 Board has never enforced the stocking rule against anyone but religious objectors to Plan B; 6 rather, the Board allows widespread ad hoc exemptions for secular purposes. 7 Further, the Boards application of the rules proscribes more religious conduct than is

8 necessary to achieve patient access. The State has compelled pharmacies (and, effectively, 9 pharmacists) to dispense Plan B where it might have simply compelled them to refer patients to 10 nearby pharmacies that do dispense the drug. Defendants have not shown why a continuation of 11 the pre-rule refuse and refer policy, used daily by most pharmacies for a wide variety of other 12 drugs, fails to ensure that patients will have the access they need. To the contrary, in the pre-trial 13 stipulation to stay, the State admitted that facilitated referrals do not pose a threat to timely 14 access to lawfully prescribed medications; rather, facilitated referrals help assure timely 15 access, including to Plan B specifically. Pl.s & State Def.s Stip. & Agreed Or. 1.5 [Dkt. 16 #441]. 17 In sum, the evidence demonstrates that the burden of the rules falls almost exclusively on

18 religious objectors to Plan B, the Board of Pharmacy has interpreted the rules in favor of secular 19 conduct over similar religiously-motivated conduct, and the rules themselves proscribe more 20 religious conduct than necessary to achieve patient access. The rules are not neutral and are 21 therefore subject to strict scrutiny. 22 This conclusion is buttressed by the history of the rules development, which

23 demonstrates that they were intended to target religious objectors. 24

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1 2

c. Legislative History. From the start, the drafters sought to create rules that would permit refusal for almost any

3 secular reason while prohibiting refusal for religious reasons. Except for post-lawsuit testimony 4 by State witnesses, literally all of the evidence demonstrates that the 2007 rulemaking was 5 undertaken primarily (if not solely) to ensure that religious objectors would be required to stock 6 and dispense Plan B. The Governors office worked actively with the Board and interest groups 7 to ensure that religious or moral objections to Plan B would not allow a pharmacy to refuse and 8 refer a patient. The Governor herself threatened to replace Board members who supported a 9 draft rule that included a conscience exception. 10 Mr. Saxe acknowledged at trial that the rulemakers sought to accomplish a religious

19 11 gerrymander. Indeed, Mr. Saxe candidly asked how they might achieve this goal without

12 actually saying that only facilitated referrals for non-moral or non-religious reasons were 13 permissible. He recognized the difficulty in crafting a rule that would distinguish legitimate 14 reasons for failing to dispense (clinical, fraud, business, skill, etc.) and illegitimate moral or
20 15 religious judgment reasons.

16

While Defendants argued that the Boards rules intended to prohibit personal objections

17 generally, it is telling that the Boards Notice to Pharmacists, instructing pharmacists on the 18 Boards new rules operation, was internally titled <<pharmacyplnB103_001.pdf>>. The title 19 highlights the documents unstated focus. 20 21 Tr. Trans. vol. 1 at 72:2473:4, Nov. 28, 2011 (Q. You understood the goal of the final regulations was to permit clinical, professional, and business reasons for not stocking, right? A. 23 [Mr. Saxe] Yes. Q. But not conscience reasons, correct? A. Correct.). 22 24
20 19

See Pl.s Exs. 155 &157.

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These rules were drafted for the primaryperhaps solepurpose of forcing pharmacies

2 (and, in turn, pharmacists) to dispense Plan B over their sincerely held religious beliefs. The 3 rules were adopted because of religious objections to dispensing Plan B, not in spite of their 4 incidental suppression of those beliefs. Lukumi, 508 U.S. at 540. Accordingly, the rules are not 5 neutral in their operation, and they are not valid unless they were narrowly tailored to achieve a 6 compelling state interest. Whether they meet this strict scrutiny is discussed below. 7 8 4. General Applicability. The second inquiry in the Courts Smith/Lukumi Free Exercise analysis is whether the

9 regulation is generally applicable. A regulation is not generally applicable when it applies to or 10 is enforced against only religiously-motivated conduct. 11 The Free Exercise Clause protect[s] religious observers against unequal treatment, and

12 inequality results when a legislature decides that the governmental interests it seeks to advance 13 are worthy of being pursued only against conduct with a religious motivation. Lukumi at 54314 43. A facially neutral and generally applicable regulation violates the Free Exercise Clause 15 when it has been enforced in a discriminatory manner. A law is not generally applicable if it 16 burdens a category of religiously motivated conduct but exempts or does not reach a substantial 17 category of conduct that is not religiously motivated, and which undermines the purposes of the 18 law to at least the same degree as the covered conduct that is religiously motivated. Blackhawk, 19 381 F.3d at 209 (citing Lukumi and Fraternal Order). 20 A regulation is not constitutional when the government applies it in a selective,

21 discriminatory manner, thus singling out the plaintiffs religiously motivated conduct. When the 22 government enforces a law against religious conduct but not similar secular conduct, it devalues 23 religious reasons by judging them to be of lesser import than nonreligious reasons. See Tenafly, 24 309 F.3d at 167168. This is exactly what has occurred here.

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In addition to the effectively unlimited categorical and individualized exceptions to the

2 delivery rules requirement that all pharmacies timely deliver all lawfully prescribed medications 3 (discussed above), the Boards rules are not neutral or generally applicable because they have 4 been selectively enforced, in two ways. 5 First, neither the State nor the Defendant-Intervenors produced any evidence that the

6 delivery rule had been enforced against any pharmacy except those refusing to dispense Plan B. 7 To the contrary, the delivery rule has been enforced only against the Plaintiff pharmacy, which 8 holds a religious objection to dispensing Plan B. And it has only been enforced21 with respect to 9 the failure to deliver that one drugPlan B. Furthermore, for 40 years, the stocking rule has 10 never been enforced against any pharmacy, even though it too is intended to ensure access to all 11 medications by requiring all pharmacies to stock a representative supply of medications to serve 12 its patients. 13 Plaintiffs demonstrated that since 1997 there have been at least nine complaints to the

14 Board regarding a pharmacys refusal (or failure) to dispense drugs other than Plan B, and that 15 the Board declined to investigate any of them. On the other hand, Plaintiff Stormans was the 16 subject of seven complaints in the immediate aftermath of the 2007 rules implementation, and 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 This fact only reinforces the Courts conclusion, above, that the 2007 rules were adopted primarily to force religious objectors to stock and dispense Plan B. The Ninth Circuits Opinion acknowledged this possibility, when it discussed the rules general effect of increasing access in terms of overcoming pre-rule religious or moral objections to dispensing medication: How much the new rules actually increase access to medications depends on how many people are able to get medication that they might previously have been denied based on religious or general moral opposition by a pharmacist or pharmacy to the given medication. Stormans, 586 F.3d at 1135 (emphasis added). The only given medication that has been the subject of a complaint or a Board of Pharmacy investigation since the rules effective date is Plan B.
21

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1 two more in following months. The Board investigated and closed seven of those without 2 disciplinary action, but two remain open22. 3 Secondly, and more problematically, neither the delivery rule nor the stocking rule has

4 ever been enforced against any of the states numerous Catholic-affiliated outpatient (or retail) 5 pharmacies, every one of which similarly refuses to stock or dispense Plan B for reasons of 6 conscience. The Free Exercise Clause prohibits the government from selectively enforcing 7 otherwise generally applicable regulations against one group of religious objectors, but not 8 another. See Lukumi, 508 U.S. at 536 (One religious denomination cannot be officially 9 preferred over another.). 10 Catholic-affiliated hospitals provide more than 15% of all U.S. hospital beds, and they

11 account for more than 120 million hospital visits per year. There are four Catholic-affiliated 12 health care systems23 in Washington, operating at least eighteen hospitals, and they provide 13 approximately 30% of the states hospital beds. Three of these hospitals are certified as critical 14 need, a Congressional designation designed to ensure access to health care in rural areas. 15 Catholic hospitals emphasize social services, providing treatment for drug and alcohol abuse, 16 community outreach, social work, HIV/AIDS services, and breast cancer prevention screening, 17 and they do so at a rate higher than their government, for-profit, and non-profit peers. They are a 18 major component of Washingtons overall health care system. 19 The State appears to argue that the stipulated Stay prevents it from closing these investigations. If that is its position, it makes no sense. It did not seek permission to close them, 21 and the Stay was not in any event intended to preclude it from doing so. The Stay was intended to ensure that the State did not pursue further enforcement of the rules against the Plaintiffs 22 pending trial. 20 23 24 These are: Ascension Health, Franciscan Health System, PeaceHealth, and Providence Health & Services.
23 22

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Because many primary care physicians do not accept Medicaid, the poor increasingly use

2 the Emergency Room for their primary care needs. Each Catholic-affiliated hospital in the state 3 includes an Emergency Room, and each ER utilizes its hospitals in patient pharmacy. RCW 4 70.41.350 requires every hospital providing emergency care to sexual assault victims to stock 5 emergency contraception and to dispense it to those victims requesting it. As a result, each 6 Catholic Emergency Room (or in patient) pharmacy does in fact stock Plan B, and will dispense 7 it (only) to sexual assault victims. They will not dispense the drug to a patient presenting herself 8 at the Emergency Room after unprotected, consensual sex, even though it is in stock. These 9 pharmacies appear to be in violation of the delivery rule (though they may be exempted from it 10 under Rev. Code of Wash. 48.43.065). 11 Fifteen of the states Catholic hospitals also contain an outpatient, or retail, pharmacy.

12 Because the Catholic Churchs official, traditional moral position24 is that life begins at 13 conception, these pharmacies do not stock, and will not dispense, Plan B. Each such pharmacy is 14 therefore in violation of the stocking and delivery rules. 15 The States response to the Courts inquiries25 about the effect of the 2007 delivery rule

16 (and the States current interpretation of the stocking rule) on these Catholic health care 17 providers has been inconsistent and evolving, but none of its positions permit it to defend the 18 rules as generally applicable. 19 At trial, the States witnesses claimed that they did not know what the Catholic

20 pharmacies did. When pressed, they conceded that the rules did require Catholic pharmacies to 21 22 23 See Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, referenced in Dkt. # 531. These Directives do permit the dispensation of Plan B to rape victims.
25 24

The Court first asked the parties about this issue in the oral argument on Plaintiffs 24 Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order in September, 2007.

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1 stock and dispense Plan B, and that they did not do so. But, they claimed, the Boards 2 investigation process was necessarily complaint driven, and that there was no demand for Plan 3 B at Catholic pharmacies (probably because patients knew that they would not dispense Plan B). 4 They made this argument even though the Catholic hospitals in patient pharmacies uniformly 5 stocked the drug, and they refused to dispense except in cases of sexual assault. 6 The State then argued that, although the rules required the Catholic pharmacies to stock

7 and dispense Plan B, and although it was aware that they refused to do so except in cases of 8 sexual assault, it was unable to enforce the rules against these pharmacies absent a formal 9 complaint, under the Fourth Amendment. [See Dkt. #522]. 10 The State then essentially conceded that it had not even attempted to enforce the rules

11 against Catholic pharmacies. But, it claimeddespite the clear holdings of Lukumi and its 12 progenythat its passive, selective enforcement of the rules against only some religious 13 objectors is constitutionally permitted under Wayte v. United States, 470 U.S. 589 (1985). [See 14 Dkt. #544]. 15 Finally, at closing argument, the State claimed that Catholic pharmacies are and always

16 have been statutorily exempted from stocking or delivering Plan B. Each of these proffered 17 excuses for the Boards selective enforcement of its rules is discussed in turn. 18 First, it is clear that the Board of Pharmacy has been aware since before its 2007

19 rulemaking that Catholic pharmacies do not and will not stock or deliver Plan B (or, for that 20 matter, contraceptives). Susan Boyer, the Boards current Executive Director and the States 21 Rule 30(b)(6) designee in this case, admitted as much at trial. Nevertheless, she testified the 22 Board did not discuss or contemplate the rules impact on Catholic pharmacies and their 23 position on Plan B in its lengthy development of the rules. [See Dkt. #531, at Ex. G]. In April 24

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1 2008, the Washington State Catholic Conference of Bishops filed an amicus brief in the Ninth 2 Circuit, explaining its position on Plan B and the rules impact on Catholic health care providers. 3 Dkt. # 531, Ex. H. Yet at trial, Boyer testified that she still does not know what impact the rules 4 will have on Catholic pharmacies. 5 Boyers (and the States) primary claim is that patients know that a Catholic pharmacy

6 will not dispense Plan B, and that there is therefore no demand for Plan B at Catholic 7 pharmacies. This position is not persuasive. It might explain why there have not yet been any 8 patient complaints about the Catholic pharmacies failure to stock or deliver, but it is not 9 evidence that there is no demand for the drug. Demand in the economic context means a 10 willingness and ability to purchase a commodity or service or the quantity of a commodity or 11 service wanted at a specified price and time. The fact that no patient has formally complained 12 to the Board about a Catholic pharmacys refusal to stock or deliver Plan B is not even 13 circumstantial evidence that there is no demand for the drug at that pharmacy. Many Catholic 14 hospitals (such as St. Josephs in Tacoma) are located in areas of modest incomes, with large 15 populations of women of child bearing age. These potential patients are more likely than 16 average to use the Emergency Room for their primary health care needs, and are less likely to 17 have access to transportation to travel to a distant pharmacy to obtain Plan B. There is demand 18 for Plan B, and the fact that a Catholic pharmacy does not meet it does not support the 19 conclusion that there is not. 20 The Board itself recognized that demand exists even in the absence of a supplier willing

21 to meet it in its 2007 Final Significant Analysis of the rules impact. [Pl.s Ex. 434]. In 22 discussing the possible costs of the rule, the Board acknowledged that the rules might cause 23 some pharmacies to close, rather than dispense drugs in conflict with their religious beliefs. It 24

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1 explained that any adverse impact on patients was likely to be short lived, however, because if 2 there is sufficient consumer demand in the area, a pharmacy that is being closed may be 3 purchased and run by a new operator who will comply with these rules, or another pharmacy 4 company may locate in the area to serve that market. Id. at p. 12. The Boards analysis26 5 recognized that demand exists in the absence of a pharmacy willing to meet it. 6 The States no demand argument is also undermined by its claim that the rules were

7 proactively enacted to ensure patient access in the future, even though it concedes that there was 8 no evidence of a problem with access to Plan B prior to its 2007 rules. 9 The State next claims that, even though the rules apply to Catholic pharmacies, and even

10 if they are failing to meet patient demand for Plan B, its investigative power is necessarily 11 complaint driven and the Fourth Amendment prohibits it from enforcing the rules in the 12 absence of a formal complaint. Thus, it argues, because it has received no such complaints, its 13 failure to enforce the rules against Catholic pharmacies is not evidence that the rules are not 14 generally applicable. 15 The States position is based on its reading of Client A v. Yoshinaka, 128 Wn. App. 833

16 (2005), and Seymour, DDS. v. Washington State Department of Health, Dental Quality 17 Assurance Commission, 152 Wn. App. 156 (2009). [See Dkt. #522]. These cases suggest that 18 evidence obtained outside a formal investigation may be excluded, in some circumstances, under 19 the Fourth Amendment. Neither case addresses the fact that the Board of Pharmacy is authorized 20 to inspect every pharmacy every two years, and neither defeats the conclusion that the Board is 21 22
26

The Boards analysis did not otherwise address the cost to pharmacies driven out of 23 business as a result of its 2007 rules. It certainly did not address the fact that the states Catholic pharmaciesand, logically, their associated hospitalswould suffer this same fate, if the rules 24 were enforced against them.

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1 authorized to initiate the complaint and investigation process in the absence of a formal 2 complaint filed by patient. 3 It is also clear that the Board has not previously adhered to this position. Its witnesses

4 did not claim that it could not enforce its rules in the absence of a formal, public complaint; to 5 the contrary, Ms. (Salmi) Hodgson (in the Department of Healths office of facilities and services 6 licensing) acknowledged that the Board is authorized to, and does, conduct biannual inspections 7 of every pharmacy in the state, to monitor compliance with the Boards regulations. [See Tr. 8 Trans., vol. 8 at 23:1017, Dec. 20, 2011]. She and other witnesses27 admitted that the Board 9 has previously initiated investigations as the result of these biannual inspections. 10 State witnesses also admitted that Board members, employees, and inspectors can and do

11 file their own complaints to begin the investigation and enforcement process. In fact, one of the 12 investigations of Plaintiff Stormans pharmacy was initiated by the Board itself. Board members 13 and employees have done so because of media reports or information received from insurance 14 companies. Ms. Salmi even conceded that the Board is authorized to use test shoppers to test 15 pharmacies compliance with Board of Pharmacy regulations, if there is reason to believe a 16 violation is occurring. [See Tr. Trans., vol. 8 at 99:1015, Dec. 20, 2011; see also Dkt. # 551.] 17 18 19 20
27

Rod Shafer, the former executive director of the Washington State Pharmacy 21 Association, similarly testified that the biannual inspections are conducted to make sure the pharmacists are following the rules and ensure public safety. Tr. Trans. December 22, 2011, at 22 122. He also freely admitted that it was common knowledge that Catholic pharmacies would not stock or dispense Plan B: You would have to have been in a very dark place for a long time not 23 to understand what the Catholic policy was on birth control. . . . [I]t was common knowledge, they did not stock those products. Tr. Trans. December 22, 2011, at 139. 24

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It is therefore clear that the Board could enforce its stocking and delivery rules against

2 the states many non-compliant Catholic pharmacies, and that it has consciously chosen28 not to 3 do so. Its refusal is not excused by its attorneys current claim that the Fourth Amendment 4 prohibits such investigations, or by the claim that investigations are complaint-driven and there 5 have been no patient complaints about Catholic pharmacies. 6 The next iteration of the States defense of its differential treatment of Catholic

7 pharmacies is that selective enforcement is constitutionally permissible under Wayte v. United 8 States, 470 U.S. 589 (1985). Wayte involved mandatory registration for the Selective Service. 9 Plaintiff refused, and repeatedly boasted about his decision to the Selective Service. He was 10 indicted, and sought dismissal by arguing that the law was being enforced against only vocal 11 opponents to registration. The Supreme Court rejected his claim, holding that prosecutorial 12 discretion enhanced efficiency and that enforcement against only vocal violators had a valuable 13 deterrent effect. It recognized the critical distinction between the governments awareness that 14 its passive enforcement policy would punish only a subset of non-compliant individuals, and the 15 choice to use such an enforcement mechanism because it would do so. Plaintiff could not prove 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
28

The State suggests that its failure to enforce the rules is the result of the chilling effect of this Courts stay. This position is not compelling, for at least three reasons. First, the stay was not intended to, and did not purport to, prevent additional investigations under the rules. Second, during the 2010 rulemaking, the Secretary of Health and interest groups like the Northwest Womens Law Center advocated against amending the rules to include a right of conscience. Secretary Selecky wrote to the Board of Pharmacys Chair, urging him not to do so: I agree with what you have heard from Governor Gregoires officethe current rule strikes the correct balance between patient access to medication and valid reasons why a pharmacist might not fill a prescription. The rule has served patient safety well in Washington over the three years its been in place.The rule should stand as adopted in 2007. [Pl.s Ex. 389]. Finally, to the extent the Board claims it will enforce the rules against Catholic pharmacies, that position is undermined by its simultaneous claim that it cannot do so absent a complaintparticularly where the evidence establishes that the Board could initiate a complaint itself, and has failed to do so in the almost five years the rules have been in effect.

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1 that his indictment was because of his protest, and his selective enforcement claim failed. 2 Wayte, 470 U.S. at 610. 3 Wayte is not helpful. First, it is not a free exercise case. Smith and Lukumi

4 unambiguously hold that a regulation is not neutral or generally applicable if it treats religious 5 conduct in a discriminatory manner. The Free Exercise Clause protects against unequal 6 treatment, and inequality results when a legislature decides that the governmental interests it 7 seeks to advance are worthy of being pursued only against conduct with a religious motivation. 8 Lukumi at 543-43. Furthermore, and in any event, the evidence clearly demonstrates that the 9 Boards 2007 rules do target religious objectors because ofand not in spite oftheir 10 religious objection. 11 The States final position, that the stocking and delivery rules do not apply to in-patient

12 Catholic pharmacies, is also unavailing, and perhaps counterproductive. Earlier in the litigation, 13 the State and the Intervenors had emphasized that the rules applied to all Catholic pharmacies 14 because, if it were otherwise, the rules would be drastically and inexplicably underinclusive. 15 The rules facially apply to outpatient, retail Catholic pharmacies, and every witness addressing 16 the subject so testified. Indeed, the State emphasized this fact in its Supplemental Trial Brief on 17 selective enforcement: It is undisputed that the stocking rule and the 2007 rules apply to 18 [Catholic] pharmacies. There is no evidence to support a finding that the rules are not generally 19 applicable due to a carve-out having been granted to Catholic out-patient pharmacies. [See Dkt. 20 #544 at 9]. The Intervenors took the same position in response to the Courts inquiries about the 21 rules impact on Catholic pharmacies: The rules at issue in this case do not exempt the 22 outpatient pharmacies operated by Catholic health systems for the stocking rule or the delivery 23 rule[.] . . . [I]f a Catholic-owned pharmacy serves a community that needs emergency 24

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1 contraceptives, that pharmacy must stock and deliver emergency contraceptives. [See Dkt. 2 #523 at 5]. 3 In fact, the Boards rules apply to Catholic pharmacies, and Catholic pharmacies are not

4 complying (and will not comply) with them. But there is no evidence whatsoever that the Board 5 has enforced or will enforce its rules against them. This is exactly the sort of unequal treatment 6 prohibited by the Free Exercise clause under Lukumi. The rules are not generally applicable 7 because the State does not enforce them against all pharmacies, or even to all pharmacies with 8 religious objections to dispensing Plan B. Accordingly, they are unconstitutional unless they are 9 narrowly tailored to achieve a compelling state interest. 10 11 5. Application of Strict Scrutiny. A law burdening religious practice that is not neutral or not of general application must

12 undergo the most rigorous of scrutiny. To satisfy the commands of the First Amendment, a law 13 restrictive of religious practice must advance interests of the highest order and must be 14 narrowly tailored in pursuit of those interests. A law that targets religious conduct for distinctive 15 treatment or advances legitimate governmental interests only against conduct with a religious 16 motivation will survive strict scrutiny only in rare cases. Lukumi, 508 U.S. at 546 (internal 17 citations omitted). 18 As was the case in Lukumi, the Courts analysis of the rules demonstrates why they

19 cannot survive strict scrutiny. The rules are not at all narrowly tailored; they are instead riddled 20 with secular exemptions that undermine their stated goal of increasing patient access to all 21 medications. The rules operate primarily to force (some) religious objectors to dispense plan B, 22 while permitting other pharmacies to refrain from dispensing other medications for virtually any 23 reason. They permit Catholic pharmacies to ignore the rules altogether. Nor has the state 24

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1 demonstrated or argued that it has a compelling interest in reaching this result. The rules cannot 2 survive strict scrutiny, and they are not constitutional. 3 C. Plaintiffs Equal Protection Claim. 4 Plaintiffs assert that the stocking and delivery rules, in operation, violate the Equal

5 Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which provides that no State shall deny to any 6 person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. See Second Am. Compl. 61; 7 U.S. Const. amend. XIV. This is essentially a direction that all persons similarly situated 8 should be treated alike. City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Center, Inc., 473 U.S. 432, 439 9 (1985) (citing Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202, 216 (1982)). When social or economic legislation is 10 at issue, the Equal Protection Clause allows the States wide latitude, and thus, laws will be 11 sustained if the classification drawn by the statute is rationally related to a legitimate state 12 interest. Id. at 440 (citing U.S. Railroad Retirement Bd. v. Fritz, 449 U.S. 166, 174 (1980); 13 Schweiker v. Wilson, 450 U.S. 221, 230 (1981)). When a statute classifies by race, alienage, or 14 national origin or impinges a fundamental right, however, the law will be subjected to strict 15 scrutiny. Id.; see also Nordlinger v. Hahn, 505 U.S. 1, 10 (1992). Classifications based on 16 gender and illegitimacy also call for a heightened standard of review and must meet 17 intermediate scrutiny. Id. at 44041 (citing Mississippi Univ. for Women v. Hogan, 458 U.S. 718 18 (1982); Mills v. Habluetzel, 456 U.S. 91, 99 (1982)). Where a law is facially neutral, like the 19 stocking and delivery rules, a plaintiff must show both discriminatory intent and impact. See Lee 20 v. City of Los Angeles, 250 F.3d 668, 687 (9th Cir. 2001). As Justice Kennedy noted in Lukumi, 21 the free-exercise and equal-protection analyses are analogous, see Lukumi, 508 U.S. at 540, and 22 thus, the Court unsurprisingly concludes that the stocking and delivery rules, as applied to the 23 Plaintiffs, violate the Equal Protection Clause. 24

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The facts of this case lead to the inescapable conclusion that the Boards rules

2 discriminate intentionally and impinge Plaintiffs fundamental right to free exercise of religion. 3 Thus, the Court must apply strict scrutiny, a threshold the rules cannot pass. In practice, the 4 Board of Pharmacy has classified pharmacies and pharmacists into those that refer patients for 5 religious reasons and those that refer patients for secular reasons. That classification does 6 nothing to increase patient access. Indeed, if the Board applied their exemptions as they have in 7 the past, a pharmacy could refuse to stock Plan B because it made an advantageous contract with 8 the manufacturer of ella, but a pharmacy could not refuse to stock Plan B because of moral 9 objection. In both cases, the conduct is the same: the patient is referred. But in the latter 10 situation, the pharmacy is disciplined. Persons similarly situated are not treated alike. 11 To survive strict scrutiny, the stocking and delivery rules must be narrowly tailored.

12 Given that Defendants have stipulated that a facilitated referral does not undermine access, the 13 rules could be more narrowly tailored to allow religious objectors to refer patients seeking Plan 14 B. The rules thus fail strict scrutiny. 15 Even if the Court applied a rational basis standard, the rules would still fail. The

16 classification of pharmacies and pharmacists by religious motivation is not rationally related to 17 furthering patient access. Moreover, the rules are vastly underinclusive. Defendants provided no 18 rational basis for failing to apply the stocking and delivery rules to Catholic hospitals. That 19 division between Catholic conscientious objectors and non-conscientious objectors fails to 20 further patient access in any manner. In short, the stocking and delivery rules fail under even the 21 most deferential standard. 22 D. Plaintiffs Title VII Claim. 23 Plaintiffs assert that the delivery and stocking rules permit (if not require) Washington

24 employers such as Stormans to take adverse employment action against individual pharmacists

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1 such as the plaintiff pharmacists based on their religious beliefs and practices, thus violating 2 Title VII, 42 U.S.C. 2000. Second Am. Compl. 74. Title VII bars employers from 3 discriminat[ing] against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or 4 privileges of employment, because of such individuals race, color, religion, sex, or national 5 origin. 42 U.S.C. 2000e-2(a)(1). Further, any state law which purports to require or permit 6 the doing of any act which would be an unlawful employment practice under this subchapter is 7 preempted by Title VII. See id. 2000e-7. However, Title VII preempts only those state laws 8 that expressly sanction a practice unlawful under Title VII; the term does not pre-empt state 9 laws that are silent on the practice. Calif. Fed. Sav. & Loan Assn v. Guerra, 479 U.S. 272, 297 10 n. 29 (1987) (emphasis added). 11 While the Board of Pharmacys rules unconstitutionally target religious conduct, the

12 Court cannot say that the rules expressly require or permit a pharmacy to take discriminatory 13 action against a pharmacist in such a direct manner as to violate Title VII. As noted above, the 14 rules are facially constitutionalthey do not on their face require or permit discriminatory 15 conduct. It is in their operation that the rules force a pharmacy to choose between compliance 16 with the delivery and stocking rules and employing a conscientious objector as a pharmacist. 17 Because the rules do not expressly permit a pharmacy to discriminate, Title VII does not preempt 18 them. 19 20 IV. CONCLUSION The Board of Pharmacys 2007 rules are not neutral, and they are not generally

21 applicable. They were designed instead to force religious objectors to dispense Plan B, and they 22 sought to do so despite the fact that refusals to deliver for all sorts of secular reasons were 23 24

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1 permitted. The rules are unconstitutional as applied to Plaintiffs. The Court will therefore 2 permanently enjoin their enforcement against Plaintiffs. 3 IT IS SO ORDERED. 4 DATED this 22nd day of February, 2012 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

A
Ronald B. Leighton United States District Judge

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